Defibrillators For All

Di Coulson hands over the first defibrillator to Raj from the saxon road garage. This defibrillator was provided in memory of A close friend of Di's "Mandi Lee"

Eastrea Road is another location. the unit has been provided here because it belongs to my (Deborah Slator) training company but it seems a waste to keep it in the house when it might be useful for the local community.

Susan Harrison and Stefan Harrison at Chippy Sues

Deborah Slator

Defibrillators For All

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The defibrillators, which can make the difference between life and death in the case of a cardiac arrest, have been installed outside 311 Eastrea Road, Chippy Sues on Delph Street and Westfield Nurseries on Station Road.

The equipment is in a secure unit but can be used by anyone of any age at any time of day or night and training is not necessary at it gives verbal step by step instructions.

A defibrillator was put in at the Esso garage near the Whittlesey water tower in March and plans are in place, with the help of British Heart Foundation, to insert four more defibrillators.

They will be installed outside NISA on Victory Avenue, Eastrea Village Hall, the Railway Pub on Station Road and the Carpenters Arms in Coates.

Deborah Slator, founder of charity Defibrillators For All who fundraise for more machines to be installed, said: “The quicker they are used, the more likely they are to save somebody’s life.

“If one is used within three minutes, there is a 74 per cent chance of survival.

“If they are used within five minutes, there is a 50 per cent chance of survival. But, if they are not used, it normally takes the emergency services eight minutes to arrive and the chance of survival drops to six per cent.

“In Copenhagen, where there is the highest chance of survival of a cardiac arrest, you will never be more than 360 metres away from a defibrillator.

“We want to see as many put in in Whittlesey as possible. Then, it would be great if this could be extended to other towns.”

The charity holds regular bingo sessions and sales and is a fixture at school fetes. They also put on drop in sessions to raise awareness about the effectiveness of defibrillators.

Mrs Slator said: “The message is you don’t need training to use them. My four year old grandson is capable of using one. We need people to know where they are because they save lives.”

To find out more about the charity, go to the Defibrillators For All Facebook page.